Frugal. By Nature.

What the Cheapskate is Reading: Busy!

It’s been a busy week with birthdays, and Valentine’s Day festivities, doctor and vet visits (unrelated to each other), and appointments for routine car maintenance. I wish I could say that the long President’s Day weekend makes up for it, but it’s pretty full of activities, too!

Watch for great sales in honor of President’s Day, and start thinking ahead to spring gardening. Oh, and read these posts. There are some good ones in here:

I’ve often been fascinated with the psychology of buying things. I also find it fascinating how mathematicians are using their skills to find out why we buy what we buy. Read How Companies Learn Your Secrets at the NY Times. You’ll never think about Target the same way again.

I’m absolutely fascinated with living in small spaces. Not that I could ever do it. No… I have way too much stuff, and family who resists purging things. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be inspired by Secret Storage Spaces in My Tiny House at Rowdy Kittens.

Get Rich Slowly has a thought provoking post on Questioning the Norm: Storing Fruits and Veggies. The only time I think about life without our fridge is when the power was out, so the idea of not even having a fridge is something that has never occurred to me.

Food…Your Way has a great collection of recipes to make sure that there is No More Boring Grilled Cheese. I do believe my husband and sons would eat grilled cheese every day if I allowed it!

Speaking of my husband, he used to be addicted to playing the claw game. Like… as in… spent $8 to win a $2 stuffed penguin addicted. So we both enjoyed reading How Do You Win the Claw Game?at Slate. I always suspected that some games were easier to win than others, but I had no idea how elaborate the settings are on the machines.

And last but not least, visit Finances…Your Way to read my latest post: Is a Budget Billing Program Right for You? I’ve been using budget billing for our utilities for awhile now, and while I like it, there are some things I have learned the hard way from it.